Tag: Goals

Hi everyone… I have been away for a while and I am sorry for that. I started my last semester at college, am working on the finalization of Poetry through Recovery and… well, see that picture? That is my cover for my first full-length novel which will have a release date very soon!

I got a few more rejections from some publishers and literary agents, but I am not giving up. I have faith in this story and the writing style. I love this story and know that because I love it, this book will be a huge success.

In other news, one of my personal essays was accepted into an anthology for 2019! I am super excited about this and will release more information when I get it.

I think about all the times I ever wanted to give up on myself; all the times that I felt like everyone gave up on me. All those times I was so close to suicide and not being able to find one reason to hold on. Still, somehow I forced myself to wait one more day, one more hour, one more moment and I am so glad I did. Look at everything I would have missed!

Never ever give up on yourself. You are on this planet for a reason, and that reason might not be known to you in your moment of darkness, but know that there is one. When we are in darkness, we obviously can see no light, but it is always there, waiting for us to reach out and let it touch our heart and hope.

…The Seven Wonders of the World and I am pretty sure Stonehenge isn’t one of the original wonders. Go figure. I was looking for an article on Seven Wonders because I, like many people, get confused about it. I know maybe three of them off the top of my head.

The classic seven wonders are:

Colossus of Rhodes.

Great Pyramid of Giza.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

Lighthouse of Alexandria.

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus.

Statue of Zeus at Olympia.

Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

The new seven wonders are:

Chichen Itza, Mexico – Mayan City.

Christ Redeemer, Brazil – Large Statue.

The Great Wall, China.

Machu Picchu, Peru.

Petra, Jordan – Ancient City.

The Roman Colosseum, Italy.

The Taj Mahal, India.

So what’s up with Stonehenge not being on either list? Who the hell knows. My point here is that you don’t need to be told you are a wonder to be a damn wonder. I am awed by Stonehenge – manmade, alien made, or goat made – I don’t care who made it. Stonehenge IS a wonder. How the hell did they get those stones like that and plus… plus, the whole place is perfectly aligned with the summer and winter solstices (give or take a degree).

My husband and I watch a lot of Ancient Aliens where there is speculation that this wonder (and other official wonders) were made by extraterrestrials. And is that really so far-fetched? It could be entirely possible that there are other beings in the universe or the age-old theory that we… are the aliens.

I wonder…

Back to Stonehenge. It exists. Someone made it. It isn’t a natural wonder like the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, or the Northern Lights but Stonehenge is really there and even more inspiring is that someone went to great trouble to think it out and create it. And they thought this up thousands of years ago! Another man-made wonder is the pyramids (again, alien speculation, but I digress).

Take that idea in your head and sketch it out.

Get out there and create your life. Use your experiences as lessons and fuel for the fire of accomplishment that burns inside you. Don’t sit idly by as the days turn to weeks to months to years. Get out there and do something with yourself. Shuck that fear off and build your Stonehenge. ❤

At what point do you throw caution and stability to the wind and go after your dream? Do you wait until you have enough money saved? Maybe you wait until most of your debt is paid down. Or maybe, you just keep hoping you’re going to win the lottery and you won’t have to wait for any of that because you’ll be independently wealthy. Hey, Publisher’s Clearing House does knock on people’s doors.

I have been going through a slump of the woe is me’s lately and I know why. I am fortunate in the sense that most times I get down, I can pinpoint why and work my way up from there. I have been working at my job for ten plus years and despite my tenure, some of my coworkers disrespect me often. Now, we have a new person, and I am apparently her assistant as well. It is typical for me to be the low person on the totem pole, but I really think I am just sick of it.

It is what it is until it isn’t what it isn’t.

Sick of driving one plus hour each way to work at a place where I was told that I could ‘be easily replaced.’ The other woman that was also told that line of ignorance grew a set and quit before the holidays. Yes, quit before she got her big Christmas bonus.

Last Friday, I was at work when a snowstorm from hell began its savage beating around noon. My boss was a sweetheart and sent me out in said storm to pick up the pizza he bought for everyone. Then I and the new girl sat here until finally at four pm, he decided we could leave ‘before it got worse.’

It took me SIX HOURS TO GET HOME. I had two breakdowns in the car and only almost got stuck once. Thankfully, I had that giant cyst removed from my ovary last year so I was able to wait six hours and not have to pee (there is a goddess after all!). It was like being in a real-life apocalypse with dark, swirling snow, wind gusts, people screaming, downed trees, cars abandoned in the middle of roads covered in snow drifts.

So, why am I beating your ear with all this crap? Because me telling you is a way for me to tell myself: I tolerate that which I choose to tolerate. I can move when I want. I am an administrative assistant. I can get a job probably anywhere. Will it come with the awesome bonuses and benefits this one does? Most likely not… But, my goal is not to be an administrative assistant forever.

MY GOAL IS TO BECOME A BEST-SELLING AUTHOR.

I have one book out now, one book coming out March 27, 2018, and my first full-length novel due out this year. 🙂

I was raised to be fearful, which is sad, but so true. Fear will rob you of anything you love if you let it. I am sick of the fear and the negative what-if’s: What if I fail?

Well…. What if I succeed?

So, throw caution to the wind and go after your dreams! Do it. The universe will help you if you believe.

This is everything I am telling myself since January 1, 2018. I have been through so much up until this point… if I give up now, it was all for naught!

And you can do it, too! Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. Use that negativity to fuel your motivation. People who are stuck and failing generally dislike watching people succeed or making progress. Don’t let it deter you from your goal.

Okay… we used to call them resolutions and that got us no freaking where. Around 2012, I called them goals and I don’t know if I was the brainiac who thought it up or what, but it caught on and now people call them New Year Goals and hey… it works for me no matter who thought it up first.

Well, it works when I put in the effort. Same goes for you. I mean, I don’t know you, but if you are a writer, chances are you like the idea of things going as well as they went in Week One of Two of your project. But then all hell breaks loose, the cat knocks your coffee over, the laundry is piled up and you aren’t sure if those are your kids or booger encrusted demons. You’ve got nothing accomplished save a pile of tissues inundated with your own tears instead of the tears of your enemies.

hate myself and commence drowning in a pool of chocolate, self-loathing and my own damn tears.

This year I do have some goals… mostly REALISTIC ONES but a few ridiculous ones at the end… you know, just in case.

One of my goals is to get published. Yes! Published as in an actual book with actual pages with actual words on them.

So this is how I set my goals THIS YEAR (and the last few years):

GET PUBLISHED

write a book

edit book

rewrite until a finished, polished work is complete.

research agents and publishers

submit queries

GET IN SHAPE

Commit to gym 5 days a week

30 minutes minimum cardio 7 days a week

strength training 5 days a week

eat good foods/drink a lot of water (100 oz daily)

STAY ORGANIZED

if it doesn’t have a place it is dead to me.

throw out all junk mail/mail/inserts/coupons

magazines: throw out all old issues (or donate somewhere)

clothes: throw out anything I haven’t worn in a year.

GET FINANCES STRAIGHT

Pay down all debt by paying $20 extra a month on payments

DO NOT use credit cards

Set up automatic payments on all bills (I am almost at 100% with this)

Keep separate checking accounts and STOP transferring money!

READ 100 BOOKS in 2017

No need for bullet points on this one, really. My goal is to read 100 books this year no matter what. All kinds of books: thriller/suspense (my fave!); memoirs (my other fave!); self-help; horror; romances (not really my thing, but I’ll give it a shot).

Also, win the lottery, buy a nice cabin in the woods and never have to work a regular job again.

I have faith in myself that I can do all this. The ones in boldface are the ones I really need to stay diligent with. The one in blood red, bold, italic, underline is my MAIN NUMBER ONE GOAL FOR THE F**KING YEAR. If I am not stressed about money and bills, I can focus on other important things.

Have you given any thought to goals for 2017? How do you list your goals?

Yep! It is December. That time of year for Christmas Present shopping, holiday baking and beating our heads against the wall as we deal with traffic, crowds, whiny kids (most times not our own) and trying to figure out how to hold it together for the last four weeks of the year.

What is with the self-inflicted pain you ask…. All those “I am going to do so many new things in 2011!”

I’m gonna lose fifteentenfive some pounds!

I’m gonna get something published!

I’m going to spend more time with my family!

I’m going to quit smoking!

I’m going to throw out donate everything in my closet that I no longer wear.